Saudi Arabia and several regional allies have warned their citizens
against traveling to Lebanon, as the Gulf’s Sunni Muslim monarchies step
up pressure on Beirut to side with them more forcefully in their
rivalry with Iran.

Citing unspecified safety concerns, Saudi
Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates all issued travel warnings
on Tuesday. Riyadh and Manama also advised their citizens currently in
Lebanon to leave the country immediately, while Abu Dhabi reduced its
diplomatic mission in the Lebanese capital. Qatar and Kuwait on
Wednesday followed suit and advised their citizens to leave Lebanon
“unless it was necessary to stay.”

The reason for the withering attacks? Beirut failed to condemn attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions after the kingdom beheaded a prominent Shiite cleric at the beginning of this year.

Nimr al-Nimr’s execution by Saudi Arabia triggered waves of sectarian-tinged rioting across
the Middle East. After protestors torched Saudi Arabia’s embassy in
mainly Shiite Iran, nations loyal to Saudi Arabia joined the Sunni
monarchy in cutting off relations with their biggest regional rival.
More violent protests, severed diplomatic ties and curtailed trade and
travel between countries followed. Lebanon’s woes began when Foreign
Minister Gebran Bassil refused to vote on a joint Arab statement
condemning the embassy attacks, citing the fact that the statement also
criticized Lebanese political group and militia Hezbollah, which holds
significant sway at home.